Sneaking Away
by Daughter of the Count
Summary: Edward chose to fight in the battle in Eclipse leaving Bella with Seth in the mountains. What will the outcome be when Victoria and Riley stumble onto Bella's camp site?


"Edward, come on, please." I begged for the thousandth time now, but he still wouldn't budge.

"No Bella." He nearly growled. "For the last time, you will stay in the camp site where Jacob will drop you off."

We had been arguing about this since Jasper brought up the idea. I believe it to be a good one because this is about me—Victoria wants me—and I don't want anyone getting hurt on my account. Still, everyone is against me on this decision, even Jacob. Jasper, I think, still thinks it's a plausible strategy; but he's not voicing it because of Edward. I'm not even sure that he's even still thinking about it now.

I would have argued more if Edward would have stayed in the room, but he left probably trying to cool down; we had been arguing for a while now—I'm just too stubborn to drop it.

"Bella, come on. Why do you even want to be there? It'll be no fun anyways." Alice tried to persuade me. Edward has been getting her to watch my every step lately.

So far, I've been just arguing with him, but haven't really decided on a strategy. Like Victoria, I've been playing with the holes in Alice's visions.

"Fine, alright. I'll stay at the site with Seth, but I won't like it." I finally yelled trying to get Edward's attention.

Then I stormed out of the living room into his bedroom hoping to hide out there for a little while.

Finally, the day has arrived that Jacob and Seth will take me to the camp site. Jacob, however, will be leaving in the morning before the battle leaving Seth and I on the mountain.

I hated leaving Edward to fight as well as everyone else. They all assured me that everything would be over quickly. With one last kiss from Edward, Jacob picked me up and ran into the forest heading up the mountain.

Seth was already at the site pitching the tent, but doing a horrible job at it.

Eventually, the tent was up—thanks to Jacob who took over—and not a moment too soon before the storm started to hit. The temperature dropped to dangerous levels even inside the tent. My down-stuffed sleeping bag did little to help warm me up, so Jacob pushed his way in and slept with me.

Seth slept outside, hopefully in wolf form. It made me guilty leaving him out there thinking he could catch a cold or die in the weather no matter how much reassurance Jacob gave me.

The whole night Jacob would not let me sleep. He kept trying to talk to me about Edward, but it only made me miss my beloved vampire more and it threw Jacob and me into a heated argument. Even Edward's and mine didn't get this bad.

Jacob wouldn't stop trembling with anger and eventually Seth whined enough outside that Jacob got up to trade positions with him.

I felt bad for Seth because he was so young and seemed uncomfortable about sharing a sleeping bag with an older woman, but he pushed those thoughts aside and snuggled up to me anyways.

When dawn finally broke, the storm was over and the temperature was warmer than last night.

"Good, you're up." Jacob seethed when I came out of the tent.

"Jacob, I don't…"

"I know, you don't want to have this discussion, but why not, Bells?" He interrupted me.

"You know why, Jake. I love…"

"Yeah, I know, you don't love me like you love Edward." He did it again.

"Will you stop that? I'm trying to tell you that you can't change my mind. The decision has already been made and the date is already set."

"Just like that; in stone you mean?" He growled in my face.

"Yes." I answered coldly.

"Then I guess there is no reason for me to fight to stay alive. Just do my best and if I die then who will care about Jacob Black." He shrugged walking away.

"What do you mean? You're going to get yourself killed if you think that!" I ran towards him.

"What do you care, in fact, who will?" He stopped to look at me over his shoulder.

"I would care because you are my best friend, Jacob, and you will always be my best friend." I begged.

"Well I'm sorry, but I want to be more than friends. I love you, Bella, and I know you love me too."

"I do."

"Just not enough," He turned and started to walk away again.

What was I to do now? He was going to get himself killed; I didn't need to be Alice to know that was going to happen if he wasn't thinking clearly during the battle. There was only one way I knew that would convince him to fight and survive.

"Jacob." I called out.

He stopped and turned around looking impatient.

"What?" He called out to me.

"Kiss me." I said quietly, but knew he could hear me. "Please, just…kiss me."

He looked skeptical for a few seconds looking behind him down the slope making me believe that he would leave without fulfilling my request.

Suddenly, he was bounding up to me in three long strides.

When he was close enough, he grabbed my face softly and pushed his lips to mine.

I wanted to push him away because these weren't the lips that I'd longed for, but I kept my composure and kissed him back.

"Come on, Bells, I know you can do better than this." His voice was husky in my ear. "Show me that I have a reason to live."

I didn't want to lose my best friend even though I could feel that this was wrong for our friendship. Still, I threw myself into the kiss; fisting his hair into my hands while molding my lips to his.

It would have seemed unpleasant if I wasn't actually kissing him, but something was changing. I wasn't on a mountain top waiting anxiously for Edward to come to me. In fact, I didn't even know who Edward was for a second. Instead, I was walking along the shoreline of First Beach holding hands with Jacob. We were smiling and watching two little dark haired children running ahead of us.

It was another reality, what would my life had been like if there were no vampires or werewolves. Just Bella and Jacob, but how long would it have lasted if it came true though?

One last peck on my lips then on my cheeks and Jacob pulled back with a bright smile on his face.

"That should have been our first kiss." He whispered in my ear.

He kissed my lips once more and I obliged out of reflex; for me, it didn't mean anything.

"I'll see you later." He said. I stayed frozen waiting for him to leave.

It took me a few moments to look up and see that he was long gone.

I felt dirty, like I had used my body to get what I wanted. I was selfish for doing that to Jacob. He deserved something better than me; both he and Edward did.

I turned to find Seth was not in my line of sight, but he could still be nearby listening for me in wolf form.

I shouldn't have kissed my best friend and given him false hopes like that; I should be in that clearing, helping in anyway I could.

Looking back over my shoulder once more for Seth, I set out in the direction that Jacob went through.

When we use to hike together, I learned more about my surroundings like which way was north and south. I knew that Edward told Jacob to take me to the mountains north of the clearing, so I determined that I needed to head as south as possible. This will be tricky without a compass, but there wasn't time.

Only being within the snow-covered trees for a few minutes, a rustling sound came from nearby. It was either one of two things or people; first Seth coming after me to drag me back to camp—I'd put up a good fight before he'd get the chance to. Number two—and my worst nightmare—would be Victoria coming after me. Well, better me than my family down below.

I started to run hoping that would push me a little bit further towards my destination, but sadly and expectedly, I tripped on a fallen log hidden under the snow.

I growled in frustration before hearing a growl behind me. Turning around I came face to face with Seth in wolf form. He was not pleased and I'm guessing that now everyone below knows what I tried to do.

"Seth, I know you want to get down into the action just as much as I do." I tried to reason with him.

I was still on the cold ground as he walked up to me shaking his head as a reply.

"Seth, come on please."

He growled again and shook his head more vigorously this time.

An idea came to mind as I stood up.

"Seth, will you please change back. You're sort of scaring me." I gave it my best to look somewhat frightened of him.

His face softened considerably, but he did seem to hesitate with my last request.

"I promise I won't runaway. I just want to talk is all; besides, you can catch me very easily." I reassured him.

He stood motionless for a few more seconds before turning back and disappearing behind the trees.

As soon as he was gone, I bolted for the trees once more. This time looking down at my feet making sure they didn't catch on anything that would take me down.

"Bella, you promised." I heard Seth yell behind me, but I stayed focused on my feet.

The time kept passing as I kept moving through the forest.

I fell a few times before getting back up and running some more hoping that I would elude Seth before he could catch up with me.

I'm sure that everyone will be angry with Seth for letting me escape, but it's not his fault that I'm good at running away from the fantasy creatures. Maybe that will be my gift for when I'm changed, I thought.

Unfortunately, my momentary daydream distracted me from watching my feet and where I was headed.

I was following this river that flowed down south, but didn't see the wet rocks I was running on until it was too late.

Instead of falling forward like a lucky klutz, I fell sideways into the river.

The water was about five feet deep and freezing cold making me jump up as soon as my body submerged under. I was shivering as my head broke the surface.

Knowing that the longer my body stayed in the freezing water, the faster it would go numb; I grabbed onto the ledge and started to pull myself out of the water.

It proved more difficult than I originally thought. My legs were cramping from the cold chill and my body was starting to feel heavier, but I pushed on.

I was winning the battle with the freezing cold water when two strong arms pulled me up to my feet and hugged me close a warm body.

"Bella, how thick can you get?" Seth nearly yelled at me.

"I didn't want anyone to die because of me." I answered through my rattling teeth.

"In case you were wondering, the fight already started, and last I heard, we were winning."

"What?"

"Everything was going to plan; do you know how hard it was keeping my mind off while tracking you?"

"What?"

"Ok, your freezing and confused just don't fall asleep and you'll be fine." With that he picked me up holding me impossibly close to his overheated body which I didn't object to.

Thankfully, Seth kept me close enough that my body absorbed some of his body heat which boosted mine to the point that I could change myself when we arrived back at camp site.

When I came back out, Seth had started a fire and was also back in his wolf form. I grabbed my sleeping bag wrapping it around me as I sat next to Seth. He coiled up to my body while I snuggled into his fur.

I must have dozed off because I was awoken by an angry growl that rumbled from under me. It took me a few seconds for everything to come back to me and that it was Seth.

I looked up at him. "Seth, what's the matter?"

He was high alert, his ears were forward, teeth bared, and the fur on his neck was spiked; something was very wrong.

"Seth." I tried to get his attention as he stood up walking in front of me.

I looked around him, but didn't see anything.

In a flash, Seth crouched down and looked up at me expectedly. I'm guessing he wants me to climb on his back.

I didn't voice my speculation, but followed through. He didn't throw me off, so I guess I was correct.

Before I was even settled, Seth shot off into the forest away from the area he was growling at. I hung on to his fur like my life depended on it—which probably did.

I didn't recognize anything that we ran by, but my mind wasn't too focused on that. My only concerns were what's behind us, and hanging onto a fast werewolf.

Looking behind me, I saw a couple of flashes that blurred near us. Only one kind of creature could move that fast.

As much as I wanted to look away, I couldn't. I could just make out one of the blur's fiery red hair.

Victoria.

She was after us, and she was not alone.

"Seth, leave me here and run back to the clearing." I said in his ear.

He didn't reply, but moved faster than before. I guess this was his way of saying no to my demand.

Jumping off his back would be suicidal, so I clutched tighter on his fur praying for his safety.

Suddenly, it felt like Seth ran into a wall only did I realize that it was one of the blurs that had struck him from the side.

I landed a few yards in front of Seth which knocked the wind right out of me. Seth just jumped to his feet as soon as he could then ran up to me standing over my body and growled.

I followed his line of sight to see that my suspicions were correct. There stood Victoria even more frightening than my nightmares could have created. Beside her was Riley, I recognized him from the flyers my dad had at the station. So this is what had happened to him, I thought to myself.

"Come on, mutt, give her up and no harm will come to you." Victoria's voice was nothing that I remembered. It was much too high in pitch like what would have come from a sweet girl in pigtails…almost like a perky cheerleader.

Seth didn't move an inch, but his growls intensified.

I wanted to tell Seth to go, but the words could not come out of my mouth. My fear had paralyzed me to the point that my body was not complying with the messages my brain was sending.

"Last chance, pooch." Riley mocked.

Seth gave a great roar at the two creatures in response.

"You asked for it." Victoria laughed darkly.

She looked to Riley then nodded her head once. I kept my eyes on him as he got the message and crouch down to stalk up to Seth. Riley's teeth were exposed and his blood red eyes were wild with hate and hunger.

Seth continued to hold his ground over me. I didn't see a way that we could get out of this. My body wouldn't respond to anything my mind was screaming at it.

Riley was coming closer until both he and Victoria stiffened a bit, but I still caught it. Riley tried to lunge at Seth—I still couldn't tear my eyes away from him—but was then head-butted in the side by a larger creature sending him back to where Victoria was standing.

My eyes followed the new animal or werewolf…there were two of them that had encircled Victoria and Riley. I vaguely recognized them, but they were the same size as Seth, they must be Brady and Collin.

Before I had time to blink, all three wolves lunged at the vampires. Victoria moved at lightning speed, but on the far side of the clearing…away from me.

Our eyes met before mine were forced away by the sound of metal ripping apart and screaming.

The wolves were tearing Riley apart and Seth was walking back to me watching over his brothers and Victoria. Only she saw this as her chance to escape for she jumped over the two wolves in one bound, but didn't stop as she hit the ground.

Seth lunged at her as well, cutting her away from me. It was all too much to watch.

Finally, my body seemed to start responding to my brain. I didn't think about it for too long, I couldn't stand to see it if the boys got hurt. They would need help, but the others were too far away.

I couldn't really see the blurs as now there were four, Collin and Brady had finished tearing Riley apart and joined in with Seth to catch Victoria.

I could hear the crashing within the surrounding forest, but saw nothing.

Looking around me, I remembered the story of the third wife. She was human just as I am, but she saved her tribe and family in the end. Everyone has been sacrificing something for my safety; it was time to give back.

Digging around in the snow, I finally found what I was looking for when I heard a painful whine.

Running towards the sound, I found one of the boys laying naked in the snow, but it wasn't just any boy…this was Jacob. His mouth was open, but only a silent scream was coming out.

I couldn't waste anymore time, but I couldn't see where anyone was.

It was now or never, I thought.

Pressing the sharp end of the rock into the wound on my hand, blood started coming to seep through. I held my breath as I ran away from Jacob, he needed to be saved and I'd damn my life in the process…which is what I'd plan to do. I needed to lead Victoria away from here…away from the others. I didn't care what happened to me at this point.

I didn't get too far before I tripped on something and ended up face planting in the snow which wasn't as soft and fluffy as it looked. My head hit something hard and cold then everything went black. As the world faded, I thought I heard more screams and saw a flame coming towards me before my eyes closed.

"How much longer?" A beautiful voice asked.

"It will depend on her. Her mind is trying to heal; she has been through enough these past few months." A calmer voice replied.

"Alice?" Edward asked. I could tell he was holding me from the flow of electricity running through my body.

"She'll be awake in 30 seconds, but it wouldn't surprise me if she could hear us know, Edward." Alice answered.

"Bella, love, you're safe. You can wake up now…no one is going to hurt you." Edward cooed in my ear.

I didn't feel like I could move…only like I was made of lead.

"Bella?" Edward asked.

I pushed through the stiff feeling and opened my eyes. Indeed, Edward was holding me, but we were no longer on the mountain top. It would appear that I am in his room, on his bed.

"I'm so relieved that you are awake." He kissed my head lingering longer in my hair.

"What happened? Is Jacob alright?" Everything was coming back to me so fast that I could barely comprehend it.

"Shhh, calm down, love. Brady, Collin, and Seth protected you when Victoria and Riley came across your scent. You were much closer to the clearing than I would have liked. Luckily, the three young wolves held Victoria off until the others got there. The other wolves had to take care of her because the Volturi came only a few minutes after the battle was won."

"You won?" I asked.

He chuckled, amused by my question. "Yes, silly Bella, we won. Our family is safe and in one piece. Jasper only suffered the worst from a bite, but only because he was trying to do too many things at once."

"He's an overprotective fool, and lucky that I love him or else I wouldn't be taking that lying down." Alice joked.

"Is he ok? Did the venom hurt him?" I tried to get up, but Edward was holding me down in his lap.

"He's fine; the venom only stings remember what he told you?" Alice said.

I remembered Jasper's story very clearly, but I still felt nauseous that he was hurt because of me.

"How about the wolves? Are they alright?" They were my main concern since I had seen the battle they were up against. The newborns may have been dangerous, but they were no match for Victoria.

Edward and Alice looked at each other, both pausing to answer my question. It only made me guess that something bad had happened.

"Who?" I whispered, but then I remembered Jacob naked in the snow, silently screaming from pain.

The tears that started to run down my face told Edward and Alice that I had answered my own question.

"He's fine, Bella. Carlisle has been helping him." Edward tried to sooth me.

"What happened to him? I just found him lying in the snow." I whimpered.

"Yes, we were finished dealing with the Volturi then we ran to catch up with the wolves. Working together we caught her, but then I heard Jacob and told Carlisle to go help him. I was still within range when Carlisle smelled you bleeding. You nearly gave me a heart attack…which is not easy I might add."

"I wanted to help." I whispered.

It didn't grab my attention until now that Alice and Carlisle had left.

"I know which is what Seth explained to me after we destroyed Victoria. He says it was frustrating because you could allude him so easily."

"Maybe that's what I'll bring in the next life?" I shrugged playfully.

"Well, you need to stop for the sanity of those who love you." He stated firmly.

"Well, you need to tell me what happened before I lose mine." He was trying to distract me, but I've learned better.

He took another breath before speaking silently telling me that the next part was worst than before.

"Jacob was leading the pack towards the others when Leah found another newborn that had followed Victoria. She tried to go after him, but he got his arms around her. Jacob tried to help by pushing Leah away only the newborn caught him instead and broke his bones."

I could tell he was down playing this. "How many?"

"Nearly all of the bones on his right side. He's a quick healer though, remember?"

I couldn't answer, but the tears steaming down my face said it all. Edward understood and held me tighter just letting me stain his clean shirt.

"He'll be alright, Bella, he'll be alright." He kept repeating.

"Can I go see him?" I asked.

"Yes, he's been asking for you." He replied. "Your truck is still downstairs, are you alright to drive yourself?"

"Yes," I confirmed. "I'm so glad that no one else was hurt or worst."

"Shhh, don't think about that now. It's all over and done with." He soothed me.

The battle was over, yes; but now, I had to go see Jacob. It wasn't going to be a happy visit, and it may be our last, but it needs to be done.


End file.
